Rescued lobster dies before ocean return

Inspector Todd Menard, of the Lincoln County Humane Society holds a lobster that was found in a box in a parking lot in St. Catharines, Ont., on April 2, 2014. The lobster, which Kevin Strooband, executive director, believes may have been part of an April Fool's joke is now in a salt water tank. (Handout photo/QMI Agency)

Mickey was found a day earlier inside a box in a parking lot, possibly left there as part of an April Fool's Day prank.

The crustacean was being held in a donated aquarium while authorities looked for a way to fly it back to the Maritimes at no cost.

The LCHS said it won't launch a full investigation into the abandonment, but chose to use the case as an "educational opportunity for the public," executive director Kevin Strooband said.

"It's important to mention that this is in line with our fundamentals in that we care for all animals," Strooband said. "Even for the fact that it is not defined as an animal, it is a sentient being that is capable of feeling distress."